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Consumers preferences in product packaging

13 四月 2018

There is a mounting public pressure on brand owners and retailers to reduce the environmental impact of packaging. As recent Packaging Europe article explains, brand owners are currently trying to respond to consumers’ environmental concerns in several ways.

On one hand, flexible packaging market is rapidly gaining momentum in the packaging industry validated from the market share records it made over the recent years. The growth trend is likely to continue in the years ahead with flexible packaging market size. The concept of flexible packaging is becoming prominent with the parallel rising need of the manufacturers for a cost-effective, convenient, and less wastage involving packing techniques.

A recent research by Deloitte found that over half, about 51%, of consumers make purchase decisions at the shelf. Although price is still the biggest influencer of consumer purchasing, flexible packaging has an important role to differentiate products at the point of purchase. In this scenario, consumers play an important role. Specifically, what are consumers seeking for? What are their preferences regarding product packaging?

It’s important to design a package with shelf appeal. With today's consumer, you only seal the deal when you have "off-the-shelf-appeal". Consumers are not shy about picking up products nor are they shy about leaving them at the checkout when they make a final evaluation at the point of transaction. Results from a Brain House Institute study prove consumers have strong feelings for soft textures on packaging. It is shown that products covered with soft touch film are 70% more likely to be chosen by potential consumers, because the film evokes more emotional intensity and more positive emotions.

Size does matter. A growing number of consumers want packaging that offers smaller portions. This coincides with growing senior households and shrinking family sizes. Single-serve sizes are essential. This goes well with the demand for smaller portion options and consumer packaging preferences making practical use important.

People recall 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 80% of what they see. Colour accounts for 80% of the visual information a person processes, so it's important to choose good branding colours. In order to contribute to the successful match between product and target consumer, it’s necessary to know relevant details about both. Besides, in order to stand out from your competition and capture potential buyers’ attention, it is crucial to keep the following goals in mind when choosing packaging colours.

Consumers hold a great amount of power in packaging strategy, so the more we can tailor packaging to meet their needs, the better the results will be for any business. Besides, if we compare the flexible packaging with other types of packaging we see that, generally, flexible packaging weighs less, has a better product-to-package ratio, consumes less energy in manufacturing and transport, generates less greenhouse gas emissions and contributes less to landfill waste, and that's really important for the majority of consumers. As Smithers Pira’s studies have shown, flexible packaging is the most economical method to package, preserve and distribute food, beverages, other consumables, pharmaceuticals and other products that need extended shelf life. In parallel, experts interviewed by BRANDPACKAGING affirm that nearly 60 percent of respondents’ companies are putting initiatives toward sustainability efforts. In this line, manufacturers of plastic packaging for the CPG industry are taking notice and are working to address environmental concerns. All this has been propelling flexible packaging sector, showing that it has a great potential in the current market.